Ethiopian Review

Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) yesterday called for a public meeting at Meskel Square on May 31

Vice-president and head of public relations of the party Dr. Hailu Araya said that as the party’s attempt to lease halls to hold a meeting it had planned was unsuccessful as a result of a deliberate act of the Addis Ababa City Administration, it was compelled to conduct the meeting at Meskel Square.

Originally, the party had chosen May 23 as the date to hold the meeting in the auditorium of Ethiopia Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo).

According to Dr. Hailu, UDJ submitted its request to lease the hall on May 8, and it was promised that it would have the service of the hall upon securing permission to hold the meeting from the city administration.

“Although we officially notified the administration on May 11 that we are going to hold the meeting, it did not respond until Thursday evening,” Dr Hailu said.

“And when we went to EEPCo to pay the fee and rent the hall, it told us that it had already been leased to others.”

He said that the party always finds itself in an impossible situation when it tries to lease halls for meetings.

“Those who own the halls ask for permission from the administration, while the latter asks us to furnish the lease agreement we signed with the lessors,” he said.

He added that UDJ officials tried to inform the administration of their plan to hold the May 31 meeting yesterday but were rejected by its officials on the ground that they do not take delivery of letters on Fridays.

Party Secretary-General Asrat Tassie said that the government’s concerted effort to deny UDJ of meeting places has far reaching implications as it hampered its preparation to conduct an effective campaign for the 2010 election. Asrat said that the political space was getting narrower by the day.

Meanwhile, the party’s National Council is expected to hold today a meeting to look into the grievance of party members against the party’s executive committee.

The grievance of the party members was submitted in writing on April 12, 2009. An inquiry committee has been looking into them since then.

A number of accusations have been directed against the Secretary- General Asrat Tassie. He declined to make any comment before the Council’s meeting.

- By Bruck Shewarged | Reporter